ANZATA Perth Symposium

What a great weekend in Perth 13 - 16 May,  again the world of arts therapies had great workshops and wonderful networking with our Western Australian colleagues.  My favourite was  learning 'Vislual journaling Techniques' with Fiona Fitzpatrick, a really fun and good processing way of making art for ones own supervision.  Loved the scraping back of photos.  The other workshop I found fascinating was Fiona Gardner's School based art therapy program for years 11 and 12 students with an intellectual disability.  Now there is an arts therapist with drive and determination to set up a program, get funding and then deliver its outcomes to ANZATA members.  Well done ladies.  I will put up some more images soon on self-supervision and process.

The Art of Good Health and Wellbeing International Arts and Health Conference, Melbourne November 2010

I'm presenting a workshop at Arts and Health Conference in Melbourne next Thursday at 4pm.  I am passionate about the use of art psychotherapy as an adjunct to psychoeducation programs and the 3 week program I am discussing could be used in any hospital as a brief introduction to Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.  I think this is a great way to help people in the mental health arena with strategies and skills to manage distress.  The Art Psychotherapy component has a dual purpose, firstly, to record skills in a visual way and secondly,to give patients a deeper look at what could be underlying in the areas of blocks and defenses in their ability to take in psycho-education material.  It is a great start to begin to work with a Registered Art Psychotherapist and give insight into many areas of a patients wellness.  Please check out the gallery on the webpage http://www.expressivetherapyclinic.com.au/ to see how art psychotherapy offers a deeper understanding for patients.  If information put out there is re-integrated in a safe contained way, the opportunity to gain insight and reflection is a helpful way for patients to recover from illness and progress in their growth and understanding of what may be holding them back.

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